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Friday, March 14, 2008

St. Patrick would be proud...

This is a St. Patrick's day story about sharing cultures and learning about each other.

A NY Times article talks about the Keltic Dreams, an Irish dance troupe in a Bronx school, started by a teacher from Ireland who was homesick and one day put up a poster from Riverdance. That led to impromptu lessons, then an afterschool program and, eventually, a trip to Ireland for the students and teacher. But that trip taught the teacher some things.

It has not always been easy. In the months leading up to last year’s trip to Ireland, Ms. Duggan had a window into the difficulties in her students’ lives. In her quest to obtain passports, which only a few children had, she navigated tricky immigration issues and helped track down a number of fathers who had not seen their children in years. via NY Times

Some parents were at first surprised to find that their children were dancing Irish tunes, but as the momentum grew, realized that their kids were being offered opportunities. And due to generous sponsorship, the program has grown into one that offers travel and performance experience for the kids.

You can see a video of the group and read more about it at the link for the article above.

{visual description: Teacher Caroline Duggan is shown dancing in the front line of a group of her students from PS 59. They are on a stage.}